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As
many racers, Ron "Hurricane" Humes would
grow up on the exhaust fumes of local tracks, and in
Humes’ case it would be the now defunct Islip
Speedway and Orange County Fair Speedway.
Racing would be a family affair for Humes as
well, as his father would be Chief Steward at
Riverhead Raceway, his mother would be a ticket taker,
and his brother Al would be the Assistant Starter.
Humes
started out racing in 1979 at Freeport driving in the
Bomber ranks. Humes would fare very well in his
first attempt at racing with a top 10 in points in his
final year at Freeport, 1982. Following a successful
Bomber tenure, Humes would hook up with Team Key
Material of Brooklyn, NY to race at New Egypt Speedway
in the Chargers, which would include a near miss of
the championship in 1985 by two points, but eventually
the championship next year.
In
1987, Humes moved up into the SK Modifieds in the
former Jimmy Spencer championship car. In his
second race ever in an SK he would steadily improve
from a 17th starting position onto first for the win
of the televised New Egypt 100-lap feature.
Humes would fair well in the open-wheeled ranks,
earning many wins along the way.
After
competiting in New Jersey competition, Humes ventured
up to New England to Stafford Motor Speedway for some
SK Modified racing action in 1988.
In 1989, Humes would also do limited
competition in the NASCAR Modified Tour and qualified
for all his races and met moderate success.
After the 1989 season, Humes would step away from
racing, only racing on a limited basis at Wall Stadium
and Flemington Speedway.
It would nearly be 10 years until Humes would
once again step into a full-time ride.
In
1998, Humes would form a Super Pro Truck team at
Riverhead Raceway and within
his first couple of races, Humes tasted victory once
again. In
1999, Humes would once again experience championship
gold once again, as well as in 2000, and this past
year in 2001. In
addition to the three championships, Humes toured
victory lane ten times in the four-year span.
“I feel very honored to have won in my
career,” Humes commented, “you have guys that
never win a race in all their years of racing, and to
win a race is an honor itself, let alone the
championships.”
Many
wonder how Humes could be so dominant in the Super Pro
Trucks and other divisions he has raced in the past.
Many racers will tell you that Humes has an
uncanny ability to find the openings necessary to come
from the back to the front.
However, Humes credits it to another factor, a
factor that quite a few teams ignore.
“[To be successful], you got to be focused
and make sure all the work is done on the car BEFORE
you get to the track,” Humes comments, “It’s all
preparation and that’s 90% of success.
The rest is in knowing chassis setup and
constant playing with it as well as experience.
One [factor] doesn’t win without the other,
you win by putting it together.”
In
2002, Ron Humes would race a few races in his #12
Super Pro Truck before selling the famed #12
midseason. Humes has been seeking a ride ever
since, but in the mean time he has been concentrating
on his son's career in go-karts. If the genetics prove
correct, expect some more dominance from the Humes
name in the future.
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RON
HUMES